Current large-scale climatic conditions in Southern Peru and their influence on snowline altitudes

Dornbusch, Uwe

doi:10.3112/erdkunde.1998.01.04

Cited by 26 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…To account for snowline rise since the late‐Holocene maximum, we combined measurements of kinematic ELA on Coropuna and observed regional temperature data. Our kinematic reconstructions, corresponding to the 1950 s, provide snowline values of between 5430 m and 5860 m (mean 5691 ± 164 m) similar to those of Dornbusch (5613 m) (Dornbusch, 1998). We applied an additional 85 m elevation to our kinematic values to approximate modern (2010) snowline elevations, basing this value on the temperature dataset of Vuille et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Late Pleistocene snowline fluctuations at Nevado Coropuna (15°S), southern Peruvian Andes

Bromley

Hall

Rademaker

et al. 2011

J Quaternary Science

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Deposits preserved on peaks in the southern Peruvian Andes are evidence for past glacial fluctuations and, therefore, serve as a record of both the timing and magnitude of past climate change. Moraines corresponding to the last major expansion of ice on Nevado Coropuna date to 20-25 ka, during the last glacial maximum. We reconstructed the snowline at Coropuna for this period using a combined geomorphic-numeric approach to provide a first-order estimate of the magnitude of late-Pleistocene climate change. Our reconstructions show that snowline was approximately 550-770 m lower during the last glacial maximum than during the late Holocene maximum, which ended in the 19 th century, and $750 m lower than today. While these values are similar to data from nearby Nevado Solimana, reconstructions from the neighbouring peak of Nevado Firura reveal a smaller snowline depression, suggesting the glacial response to climate forcing in the tropics is strongly influenced by non-climatic factors. These data constitute some of the first directly dated palaeo-snowline data from the arid tropics and suggest that the magnitude of the last glaciation in at least parts of the tropical Andes was similar to late-Pleistocene events at higher latitudes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Late Pleistocene snowline fluctuations at Nevado Coropuna (15°S), southern Peruvian Andes

Bromley

Hall

Rademaker

et al. 2011

J Quaternary Science

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“…The results of the t-test suggest that although the difference between eastern and western SLAs decreased with time, the difference did not become small enough to be attributed to random variability alone, excluding other possible sources of error not included in our calculated means and standard deviations. (Mark et al, 2002;Dornbusch, 1998), and the lower SLAs documented here may be attributed to topographic and/or climatic differences between the regions. A simple comparison of SLAs between the Cordillera Huayhuash and the Cordillera Raura displays multiple similarities as well as noticeable differences between the two ranges.…”

Section: Glaciers Of the Cordillera Rauramentioning

confidence: 60%

Landsat TM and ETM+ derived snowline altitudes in the Cordillera Huayhuash and Cordillera Raura, Peru, 1986–2005

2011

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The Cordilleras Huayhuash and Raura are remote glacierized ranges in the Andes Mountains of Peru. A robust assessment of modern glacier change is important for understanding how regional change affects Andean communities, and for placing paleo-glaciers in a context relative to modern glaciation and climate. Snowline altitudes (SLAs) derived from satellite imagery are used as a proxy for modern (1986–2005) local climate change in a key transition zone in the Andes.

Clear sky, dry season Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) satellite images from 1986–2005 were used to identify snowline positions, and their altitude ranges were extracted from an Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) digital elevation model (DEM). Based on satellite records from 31 glaciers, average snowline altitudes (SLAs), an approximation for the equilibrium line altitude (ELA), for the Cordillera Huayhuash (13 glaciers) and Cordillera Raura (18 glaciers) from 1986–2005 were 5051 m a.s.l. from 1986–2005 and 5006 m a.s.l. from 1986–2002, respectively. During the same time period, the Cordillera Huayhuash SLA experienced no significant change while the Cordillera Raura SLA rose significantly from 4947 m a.s.l. to 5044 m a.s.l

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“…Coropuna currently supports an ice cap (∼60 km 2 ; Racoviteanu et al , 2007) drained by 15 outlet glaciers, as well as extensive perennial snow. Due to aridity, glaciers are restricted to elevations significantly higher (5100–5500 m) than the local zero‐degree isotherm (∼4900 m; Dornbusch, 1998) and ablation occurs both by melting and sublimation. Today, meltwater streams are rare and flow only during clear conditions.…”

Section: Geological and Climatic Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glacier fluctuations in the southern Peruvian Andes during the late‐glacial period, constrained with cosmogenic ³He

Bromley

Hall

Schaefer

et al. 2011

J Quaternary Science

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The occurrence of pronounced climate reversals during the last glacial termination has long been recognised in palaeoclimate records from both hemispheres and from high to low latitudes. Accurate constraint of both the timing and magnitude of events, such as the Younger Dryas and Antarctic Cold Reversal, is vital in order to test different hypotheses for the causes and propagation of abrupt climate change. However, in contrast to higher-latitude regions, well-dated records from the Tropics are rare and the structure of late-glacial tropical climate remains uncertain. As a step toward addressing this problem, we present an in situ cosmogenic 3 He surface exposure chronology from Nevado Coropuna, southern Peru, documenting a significant fluctuation of the ice margin during the late-glacial period. Ten tightly clustered ages from a pair of moraines located halfway between the modern glacier and the Last Glacial Maximum terminus range from 11.9 to 13.9 ka and give an arithmetic mean age of 12.8 AE 0.7 ka (1s). These data constitute direct evidence for a readvance, or prolonged stillstand, of glaciers in the arid Andes of southwestern Peru.

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Current large-scale climatic conditions in Southern Peru and their influence on snowline altitudes

Cited by 26 publications

References 13 publications

Late Pleistocene snowline fluctuations at Nevado Coropuna (15°S), southern Peruvian Andes

Late Pleistocene snowline fluctuations at Nevado Coropuna (15°S), southern Peruvian Andes

Landsat TM and ETM+ derived snowline altitudes in the Cordillera Huayhuash and Cordillera Raura, Peru, 1986–2005

Glacier fluctuations in the southern Peruvian Andes during the late‐glacial period, constrained with cosmogenic ³He

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Current large-scale climatic conditions in Southern Peru and their influence on snowline altitudes

Cited by 26 publications

References 13 publications

Late Pleistocene snowline fluctuations at Nevado Coropuna (15°S), southern Peruvian Andes

Late Pleistocene snowline fluctuations at Nevado Coropuna (15°S), southern Peruvian Andes

Landsat TM and ETM+ derived snowline altitudes in the Cordillera Huayhuash and Cordillera Raura, Peru, 1986–2005

Glacier fluctuations in the southern Peruvian Andes during the late‐glacial period, constrained with cosmogenic 3He

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Glacier fluctuations in the southern Peruvian Andes during the late‐glacial period, constrained with cosmogenic ³He